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Tag: husband

After a very long day at work, coupled with the kind of traffic faced when heading home, what you are most likely looking forward to is a warm bath coupled with a good meal and then a sound sleep. Sleep is essential. This is not because the doctor says so, but because the alarm will be buzzing by 5:00am the next morning, you want to get the best out of the little hours of sleep, but then there is a little baby who might turn out a “crying-baby” anytime in the middle of the night.

Your sleep has begun, and in the middle of it the baby cries for attention from his/her cot. Your sleep is distorted, and from the depth of your heart you pray the baby will by some miracle stop crying. Your prayer however doesn’t get answered, as the “crying-baby” cries louder. You turn to your partner, and wish he/she will please get up and attend to the “crying-baby”.

Who Should Attend To The “crying-baby”?
Most men assume when a “crying-baby” cries he/she needs attention that can only be given by the mother. This is however not so, what law says men should not change diapers, or carry a “crying-baby” on their backs, sing lullabies, reduce or increase the room temperature as may be needed or feed the baby? A loving husband and father will definitely not see anything wrong in contributing to taking care of his son or daughter, but to attend to a “crying-baby” in the middle of a deep sleep?

A wife who has a nanny or baby sitter who comes around during the day to look after the baby is definitely relieved of the stressing of nursing the baby during the day. Her work however is demanding just like any Nigerian striving to make ends meet in this current economic recession. Asides, who doesn’t enjoy a sound sleep?
The answer to the question of who should attend to a “crying-baby” in the middle of the night should be based on mutual agreement and understanding.

What works for family A may not work for family B. Some couples prefer to rotate the role, while some others follow a first-to-hear-the-cry-first-to-attend approach. Nothing is cast in stone, call your partner, talk about it and reach a workable conclusion. Two things should not happen, the role (of who should attend to the baby in the middle of the night) should not be one-sided, and two, the “crying-baby” should not be left unattended to.

Nursing mothers should teach their husbands how to change and properly dispose baby diapers, how to safely carry the baby on the back, how and what to feed the baby at when, and also where the baby food is stored.

Share your experiences on this issue, how have you be addressing it? What do you feel works best, or better put, what has been working for you? Use the comment box below.